Helical feed device



July 28, 1936. w. R-PosTL-EWAITE 2,048,943

HELICA;J FEED DEVICE Y Filed Aug. 28, 1934 2 shets'sheet 2' Ina/en for M//W/'am R POJf/ewa/'le Patented July 28, 1936 UNITED STATES:

FFICE HELICAL FEED DEVICE Delaware Application August 2s, 1934, serial Nn. 141,807

z (ci. 242-11) This invention relates to an apparatus for imparting a uniform helical motion, or a combination of rotation and axial advancement, to cylindrical bodies such as pipes, tubes. posts, piles 5 and the like. It is particularly useful as an ad- Junct to apparatus of well known types for applying coatings and mappings to such bodies for protection against corrosion or other damage.

Heretofore machines for this purpose have lnvolved the use of skewed or angularly directed rollers for supporting the cylindrical body and also for guiding or controlling its rate of longitudinal advance per turn of revolution. The means for revolving the body on the said skewed l5 rollers has ordinarily been a exible belt o r a set of hurled or toothed discs. In some cases the rollers have been free to assume any position, and the helix angle of the motion has been determined by the angularity of the belt or belts with respect to the pipe axis.

There are numerous disadvantages to all of these, as the belts are prone to slip and, furthermore, have no longitudinal stiness between their points of support on their drive pulleys and their contact with the cylindrical body, so that the belt may and often does weave backward and forward along the said body, producing irregular and non-uniform motion. The knurled disc dev vices are detrimental to primers and other coatings that may already be in place on the body.

and are very sensitive to slight changes in diameter or roundness of the body, couplings, welds, and the like.

It is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus for imparting a uniform helical motion, which may be here dened as equivalent to a simultaneous rotation and axial advancement, to a cylindrical body.

Another object is to provide an apparatus for imparting a uniform helical motion to a cylindrical body, which motion may readily be c ontrolled and altered as desired.

Another object is tol provide an apparatus of this character which will not mar the surface or a coating upon the said cylindrical body, and

which will not be 'put out of adjustment by relatively sudden and great changes in diameter or eccentricity'of the body. l

Another object is to provide an apparatus of this character which will be adapted to operate upon various diameters of cylinders with a minimum of adjustments and changes of parts.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the description Vwhich follows and from the accompanying drawings.

which form a part of this specification and illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a machine adapted to impart a helical motion 5 toa length of pipe, for example, and illustrates the driving and guiding torus or ring which supplies'and controls the said motion.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view o n line lI-II of the device shown in Figure 1 and illus- 10 trates one form of helix angle adjusting mechanism.

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation on line III-III of Figure 1 and illustrates the skew roller supports. l

Figure 4 is a section on line IV-IV of Figure 1 through the torus ring and its support, illustrating the guiding and driving means for' the moving element.

Figure 5 is a side elevation, partlyln section, 20 of an alternative arrangement of 4the device shown in Figure 1 and illustrates the guiding and -driving torus ring in double contact with the pipe and vertically adjustable with respect to the skew roller supports for the pipe to control the 26 helix angle thereof.

Referring to Figure 1, the rectangular frame Il of the machine may be made up from rolled steel sections I2 and I3 which may be welded or bolted together in the conventional manner. A 30 anged box-like member I4 is provided inthe center of the lower members I3 of frame II and has an `upwardly extending cylindrical support l5 on which thev lower socket I6 of the ring frame I1 is adapted to be rotatably received. A plate 35 i8 is secured to the upper members of the frame Il at the center thereof, and has a hollow shaft I9 extending vertically downwardly to provide a socket into which the upper pin 20 of ring frame Il may be rotatively received. Ring frame I1 40 is thus supported at the top and bottom so that it may be turned to a desired degree about a vertical axis, subject to Q the control. devices to be ldescribed in detail below.

Ring frame l1 is best illustrated in Figures 2 45 and.4 and comprises an outer stationary annular member 2|, to which socket I6 and pin 20 are secured, and an inner rotating annular member 22 which is free to rotate coaxially with regard to member V2|. Friction reducing devices such 50 as the double row of ball bearings 23 may be provided, as lshown. The inner member 2lv is fitted with a beveled ring gear 2l, which is positively driven by any source of power such as motor 25,

` through the shaft 26, bevel gears 21, splined shaft 55 from that travel.

28 and pinion 29. Inasmuch as spllned shaft 23 passes through the axis of the bottom cylindrical support I5 for ring frame I1, power may be transmitted to rotate the inner ring member 22 within the ring frame I1 and with the latter in any position on its axis..

The angular position of ring frame I1 in regard to the frame II, in the preferred embodiment shown in Figures 1,12 and 3, vmay be predetermined and adjusted by the toothed quadrant 30 (Figure 2) which extends horizontally from the lower socket I 6 of ring frame II, and engages the long pinion 3| which is mounted on shaft 32 and is provided with a hand wheel 33 to facilitate its operation. A locking member 33a may be provided to maintain the adjustment of these parts. The ring frame I1 is also free to move bodily upwardly for a limited distance, under circumstances which will be described below, against the resistance of spring 34, which may' be adjusted by hand wheel 35 threaded at 36 on the hollow shaft I9, which forms the upper guide and support for the said frame. Power to rotate inner ring member 22 is not affected bysuch motion due to the vertical freedom afforded by thesplined shaft 28.

The inside face of inner ring member 22 is provided with a facing or tire 31 of rubber or similar elastic resilient friction material secured thereto and preferably reinforced by removable side iianges 38 which also act as oil seals for the annular ball bearing 23. The inner face of tire 31 engages the outer surface of the pipe or other cylindrical body 39 over an appreciable arc of contact, due to the fact that two concave surlfaces are disposed at an angle to each other.

Pipe 39 is supported at substantially right angles to the plane of frame II upon skew idler rollers 4U which are journalled in pivoted 'yokes 4I (Figure 3) so as to be free to follow the helical motion of the said pipe, as determined by the angularity of the plane of ring I 1 with respect to the pipe axis. If desired, yokes 4I may be fixed in this position, as by tightening the pivot bolts 42. Yokes- 4I may be supported upon brackets 43 at each side. of the pipe and below the same at the top of suitable posts 44.

The operation of the preferred device is believed to be readily observable from the preceding description and Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings. In the embodiment shown, the inner lring member 22 of torus ring frame I1 is set in rotation by motor 25 and is illustrated as turning in a clockwise direction as shown by the arrows on Figures 1 and 3. The helix angle of the helical motion to be imparted to thev pipe 39 is adjusted to the desired value AOB, where OB -is parallel to the plane of rotation of ring frame I1, by the hand wheel 33 actuating the pinion 3l and quadrant and is locked by locking member 33a. The tire 31, being urged strongly downwardly against the top of the pipe 39 by spring 34, will cause the line of contact with the pipe 39 to follow its exact direction of travel relative thereto, and being rigidly supported by torus ring frame I1, will not permit appreciable deviation As couplings, welds, eccentricities of the pipe, and the like .pass beneath the tire 31 of ring I1, the latter will be deflected upwardly or downwardly only against spring 34 and not axially relative to the pipe or about its own axis. Such deflections cannot cause pertinent deviations in the helix angle AOB between the plane ofthe torus driving ring I1 and a` plane at right angles to the pipe axis C, so that the true helical motion caused thereby would not be materially altered. Referring now to the modification of this invention as illustrated in Figure 5, it will be noted that the essential features of a torus driving 5 ring I1 and skew idler rollers 40 are retained, the main diilerence being in the manner of adjusting or manipulating the torus ring I1 with regard to the pipe or cylindrical body 39 being handled, to control the helix angle. In this embodiment, 10 the torus ring I1 does not bear directly downwardly on the pipe 39 but is twisted or rotated clockwise about its-vertical axis so as to pinch the opposite sides of the pipe between the corresponding edges of the tire 31 which forms the rotating face of ring I1. The small areas of contact, indicated by the dotted areas X and Y are` illustrated in Figure 5. These are substantially opposite each other but are both above the pipe axis C'.

The helix angle A'O'B is controlled by the vertical displacement between the pipe axis C' and the axis of rotation D of ring I1. For example, if the two are in the same horizontal plane, the pipe 39 will be rotated only and will not 25 advance longitudinally, as the opposite edges of the ring will be moving vertically, one upwardly and the other downwardly. As the vertical displacement between C and D is increased, the longitudinal component of the helical motion will 30 likewise increase, due to the curvature of the torus ring I1 and the changed relation of the two areas of contact X and Y on the surface of pipe 39.

In the mechanism shown there are but. few changes from that already described. It will be 35 obvious that an additional skew idler roller 49' will be desirable to hold the pipe 39 on the skew i idler rollers 40, and such a construction would require the upward extension 43 of the bracket member 43 over the pipe 39. Skewidler roller is preferably pressed downwardly against the pipe 39 by a spring 45 and is. further provided with a long guide stem 46 to allow inequalities in the pipe to pass beneath roller 40'.

The mounting arrangement for torus ring I1 I also requires some modification from that previously described. In order to provide accurate vertical positioning of the axis D of this ring, with regard to the pipe axis C', the lower support I5' may be threaded externally as at 41 and a correspondingly threaded hand wheel 48 tted thereto, to lift the ring structure I1 as desired. Likewise, a threaded shaft 49 with a hand wheel 50 may be passed through a plate 5I at the top of `frame II and extended through the hollow shaft I 9 to position the upper end of pin 20 at the upper end of ring I1.

In order to urge the torus ring I1 clockwise about its vertical axis against the sides of pipe 3l, atorsion spring 52 may be provided, with its lower 0 end secured to pin 20 and its upper end secured vto a collar 53 on hollow shaft I9. Collar 53 may be provided with spokes 54 for adjusting the A spring torsion, and has a set screw 55 for securing it to shaft I9. Splined shaft 28, previously def6 scribed, is adequate to permit such adjustments as may be necessary, without interfering with the transmission of power from motor 25 to the inner ring member 22 and tire 31. The toothed quadrant 30 and pinion II would not be requiredfor 70- this arrangement. A

It would appear that the present invention includes the provision of a rotating torus ring in controlled angular contact with the outer surface vof the cylindrical body to which a uniform, con- Vf trolled, helical motion is to be imparted, together with suitable supporting means for the said body. permitting such helical motion, but preventing any other.

It will readily be seen that the essential features of this invention are embodied in the two arrangements described and illustrated above, although it is obvious that many further modifications and changes could also be made without departing therefrom.

I claim:

l. Ahelical feed device for a cylindrical body, comprising a rotating torus ring surrounding said body, the opposite sides of said torus ring being provided with a resilient surface in contact with opposite sides of said body to produce a helical motion of the same, means for maintaining the axis of said torus ring in a xed relationship with the axis of said body, and means for supporting said body to permit helical motion thereof. Y

2. A helical feed device for,I a cylindrical body.

comprising a frame, an annularly divided torus 5 ringA pivoted in said frame and adapted to be moved about a vertical axis, means for rotating the inner annulus of said ring, said ring surrounding said body and having opposite sides provided -with a resilient surface in' contact with l0 opposite sides of said body to produce a helical motion of the same, means for supporting said body to permit helical motion thereof. and means to move said torus ringvertically with regard to the axis of said body to regulate the helix angle 15 of said helical motion.

v -WULIAMR POSTLEWAITE. 

